Improvement in griping attachments for rope-ways



A. S. HALLIDIE.

improvement in Gripping Attachments for Rope-Ways. No.129,130.Parentedtuly 16, 1872.

UNITED STATES PATEANTROEEICE.

IMPRCVEMENT lNvGRlPING ATTACHMENTS FOR ROPE-WAYS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 129,130, dated J nly16, 1872.

SPECIFICATION. To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ANDREW S. HALLIDLE, of San Francisco, San Franciscocounty, State lof California, have invented a Griping At tachment forVehicles and Vessels 5 and I do hereby declare the following descriptionand accompanying drawing are suflicient to enable any person skilled inthe art or science to which it most nearly appertainsfto make and use mysaid invention or improvement without further invention or experiment.

An endless running or traveling cha-in, band, or rope, the latterpreferably of steel wire, being employed to actuate vehicles on land orvessels on Water, I attach to such a vessel or vehicle, directly or bymeans of a tender or other suitable vehicle or vessel or device, an adjustable or automatic gripe, so that, without impeding or interferingwith the' running of the chain or rope, the vehicles or vessels can bestopped at any point on their transit, to take up or set down passengersor freightor for other purposes, by slacking up the gripe, and can beset in motion again by the tightening of the same. 1n canaltransportation, where an endless traveling rope, chain, or band isemployed, be itk submerged or not, economy and other circumstances makeit best that the endless rope, band, or chain should be traveling at aregular rate of speed without intermission during working hours, andthat a quick and simple mode of connecting and disconnecting the rope,band, or chain from the vessel, so far as its propelling power isconcerned, be provided, so as not to cause delay, and the connection bemade in such a manner as to avoid too sudden a strain on the travelingrope, band, or chain and the machinery connected therewith. In methodsheretofore adopted or in use, or which have been tried, for hauling orpropelling passen ger or freight cars or vehicles along and throughstreets and roads of towns and cities, especially if densely populated,great difficulty has been experienced in connecting and disconnectingthe vehicles on inclines or grades or at crossings of streets. An equaldifficulty has been experienced in keeping the connection between thevehicle and the rope while passing a change of grade or angle ofinclination on the line of the route, and at the same time keeping theor propelled the gripe here described in the drawing.

`Figure l is a front view of the attachment,

showing the sliding bar for moving the wedge.

Fig. 2 is a side view, showing most distinctlyr the rack and toothedwheellfor raising and lowering the. gripe. Fie. 3 shows the guidepulleysseparated. Fig. 4 is a top view, showing the arrangement of theguide-pulleys. Figs. 5, 6, and 7 are detail views of the gripingattachment. i

The frame in which the griping `device is held and operated consistsof aplate or iiange,

a, which is to be strongly secured to the iioor or deck of the vehicleor vessel to be propelled, and which has a standard, g, extending upwardto the desired height 5 also a similar standard, g', extending downwardbelow it a sufficient distance to support the griping apparatus. Thisframe is a single casting, which should be made as light as possible,regard being had to the strength of material required to withstand thestrain to which it'will be subjected. Secured, at a short distanceapart, to theupper end of the standard g are two pairs of boxes, g,between which the vertical sliding stem o, which supports the gripingdevice, passes. The stem c has a rack, d, secured to or formed upon oneside of it, and a toothed roller, s, is supported iu one pair of theboxes q so as to engage this rack. The

roller s can be turned by a crank, 1', and thus elevate or lower thestem c as required, according to the direction in which the crank isturned. The use of the extra pair of boxes will be explained further on.The slide o passes down through an openin g in the plate or fiange A,being guided by wings, which move in grooves in the side of the opening,so as to keep it closed up against the side of the standard g. At thelower end of the sliding stem is a block, o', which is secured to thestem at one side of the center in the form of an L, below which thegriping-jaws and holdin g-pulleys are secured and operated. A smallframe, h, is secured in the under side of the block c by dove-tailgrooves, as shown at Fig. 5, so that it can be moved back and forth inthe grooves, and inside of this frame is another slide, k. Secured tothe two corners of the frame h, which are furthest from the stem c, areshort journals n, shown at Figs 1 and 4, to which pulleys l Z aresecured by a short box. These pulleys are held at an angle to the frameby spiral or other springs, shown at Fig. 4. Similar pulleys L l aresecured to the slide k by arms m, and are held at an' opposite angle bysprings in the same manner. One end of the sliding frame h is formedinto a downwardly-projecting jaw, h', while an opposing jaw, k', issecured to the slide 7c, as shown, each of which are provided with asemicircular groove on their opposing faces for grasping the rope whenthey are forced together. For operating the pulleys l l and jaws h andk', a sliding bar, d, which moves in a recess in the face of the stem c,is employed. The upper end of this bar extends aboveV the stem c, whereit is provided with screw-threads and a hand-wheel, a, which, securedupon the upper end of the stem, serves to raise and lower the bar asnecessary. The lower end of this bar passes down through the block c',and has secured at its lower extremity a wedge, f, which is broadest atits lower end. This wedge moves between the sliding frame th and insideslide k, so that when the wedgeiis lifted by turning the hand-wheel thejaws and pulleys are forced together by the increasing size of thewedge. Flan ges at the corners of the wedge, moving in correspondingrecesses on the slides, serve to draw the slides together when themovement of the wedge is reversed.

The operation of my griping attachment is as follows: The vehicle orvessel to be propelled being in the proper position, and the gripingattachment being directly over the traveling rope, band, or chain, the`gripe is lowered by means of the crank r until the rope or chain isreceived both between the jaws h and lc', and also between the opposingfaces of the pulleys Z l Z l', then, by turning the hand-wheel a. so asto lift the wedge f, the jaws and pulleys will be closed upon the ropeor chain. The pulleys first embrace the rope and hold it in place,revolving upon their journals; a further lifting of the wedge clamps thejaws upon the rope or chain, so that the vehicle or vessel is drawn byit.

When it is simply desired to stop the vessel or vehicle without castingloose from the towing rope or chain, the wedge should be lowered justenough to free the jaws from the rope without dropping it from thepulleys. The rope or chain will then move between the pulleys at itsordinary speed, ready to be griped at any moment. In the case of haulingvehicles through streets of a city, where the rope or chain isnecessarily under ground, and where a narrow groove running lengthwisebetween the tracks, through which the shank or the gripin g attachmentpasses, is the only means of reaching vthe traveling rope, and when itis necessary to haul the vehicle in the reverse direction, theattachment can be readily reversed by lifting the stem c until it can beturned around in the opening through the tlan ge or plate a. The toothedroller will in that case have to be transferred to the opposite pair ofboxes q'.

When the endless rope or chain is submerged and runs on sheaves orwheels at the bottom of the canal, a modication of my invention can bemade so far as the L shape is concerned, and the guide-pulleys forsupporting the rope or chain might be dispensed with.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secureby Letters Patent, 1s-

1. rI he standard g, with its toothed roller s, in combination with thesliding stem or plate c, with its rack d', substantially as and for thepurpose above described.

2. The adjustable sliding stem or plate c, with its L-shaped foot orblock, substantially as and for the purpose above described.

3. rlhe spring-pulleys l l l l', when attached to theoppositely-operating slides h and k, for

the purpose specified.

4. The jaws h and lc', when secured to the oppositely-moving slides hand le, for the purpose specified.

5. The jaws h4 and k and pulleys l l l l', when secur'ed to theoppositely-moving slides h and 7c, for the purpose specilied.

6. The sliding bar d, operated by the handwheel a, and having the wedgef secured at its lower end, in combination with the oppositely-movingslides h and k, substantially as and for the purpose above described.

7. Operating. griping-jaws h k and guidepulleys ll Z Z', or either ofthem, from the deck of the vessel or iioor of the vehicle by means ofthe sliding rod d and wedge f, substantially as described, and for thepurpose specified.

In witness whereof I hereunto set my hand.

ANDREW S. HALLIDIE.

Witnesses WM. H. MURRAY, WM. GEnLnon.

